Chapter 324 Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Three

Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty, named Wokuotai, was the Great Khan of Mongolia, also known as the Emperor Hehan.The third son of Genghis Khan, his mother Guangxian Queen Hongjishi.Born in the 13th year of Chunxi (AD 1186) in the Southern Song Dynasty, and died in the 13th year of Taizong (the first year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty, 1241 AD). Wo Kuotai started riding and archery at a very young age, and spent his youth on horseback.He followed his father to fight everywhere and grew up to be a brave general. In the third year of Jiatai (1203 A.D.), Tiemuzhen led his army to fight against King Khan of the Kelei tribe in the land of Helanzhen Shatuo.Wo Kuotai, who was only 18 years old, fought with the army and fought hard.

In the winter of the fourth year of Jiatai, after Temujin wiped out the Naiman tribe, he attacked the Meerqi tribe in the north, subdued all the tribes with the three surnames of Maigudan, Tuotoli, and Chahun, and sent Tuolige, the wife of Hudu, the son of Tuotuo, to the north. Give it to Wo Kuotai.Wo Kuotai happily accepted her as his wife.Later, Toregona gave birth to Dingzong Guiyu for him. Genghis Khan's married wife Bortie had four sons: the eldest son Shuchi, the second son Chagatai, the third son Wokuotai, and the fourth son Tuolei.They followed Genghis Khan in his expedition to the east and west, and made great contributions to the foundation of the Mongolian Empire, just like the four pillars of the empire.According to the talents and specialties of the four sons, Genghis Khan arranged different duties for them: Shuchi was in charge of hunting; Chagatai was in charge of laws and regulations; Wokuotai was in charge of government affairs;Although the youngest son Tuo Lei was the most favored, Genghis Khan, as the founding king, deliberately chose Wo Kuotai, who was loyal, tolerant, and steady, as his successor in his later years.

After the Mongol Empire began to take shape, Genghis Khan realized that he needed a statesman to consolidate and develop the empire he created and complete the unfinished business.Wo Kuotai is resourceful and resourceful, and his ability to govern the country is more comprehensive than that of Tuo Lei.Starting from the future of the empire, Genghis Khan restrained his love for his young son, employed people according to their talents, broke the old Mongolian tradition, and promoted Okuotai as the heir. In the twelfth year of Jiading, Genghis Khan was preparing to march west and decided to arrange for heirs.He immediately summoned his sons and younger brothers, and agreed that Wo Kuotai would be the heir to the throne of Khan.

After Wo Kuotai was established as the heir, he accompanied his father on the journey to crusade against Khwarazmo.The Mongolian army consisted of 4 groups: one route was commanded by Wokuotai and Chagatai to attack Eidaci; the other route was commanded by Shuchi to go down the Huzhang River to fetch felts; Rongte (now in the south of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on the north bank of the Syr Darya River), Huzhi (Leninabad in the former Soviet Union) and other places; Wo Kuotai and Chahetai were ordered to lead their troops to attack the false assassination.The castle was captured a month later.In the summer of the thirteenth year of Jiading, Genghis Khan dispatched Wokuotai and Chagatai to lead the right-wing army to capture the capital of Khwarazmo, Yulongjiechi (Turkmen Kunya Urgench), and ordered Shuchi to lead his troops southward from his camp. meet.Wokuotai, Chagatai and Shuchi each led their own troops and arrived at Yulongjie Chicheng successively.However, due to the different orders of the Mongolian army, even the attack for several months failed to achieve results.After Genghis Khan in Afghanistan learned about this situation, he appointed Wo Kuotai as the supreme commander, and he was under unified command.Wo Kuotai mediated the relationship between the brothers, tightened military discipline, and then turned to the general offensive. Nine days later, the defenders tried their best to surrender.The Mongolian army drove all the residents out of the city, 100,000 craftsmen were sent to the east, and the rest were assigned to various armies. Except for young women and children who were kidnapped as slaves, all were slaughtered.After the killing and looting, the Amu River embankment was broken and water was poured into the city. All the people hiding in the city were drowned, and there were many dead bodies and piles of bones.

After the Battle of Yulong Jiechi, Wokuotai and Chagatai each led their troops to join up with Genghis Khan who had captured the Talihan villages, and marched into Gejining together.In the spring of the eighteenth year of Jiading, Wo Kuotai returned to his homeland of Mongolia with his father, ending a seven-year historic expedition. In the first year of Baoqing (1226 A.D.), Genghis Khan accused the Xixia king of breaching the contract and once again conquered Xixia himself.In June of the second year, the ruler of Xixia couldn't hold on, so he sent envoys to ask for surrender.After Genghis Khan defeated the main force of the Xixia Army, he turned his troops to the Kingdom of Jin.He led his army across the Yellow River, passed through Jishi Prefecture (now Xunhua, Qinghai), and invaded Lintao Road (the government is Lintao, now in Gansu).In July, Jingzhao (Xi'an) was captured.The old and sickly Genghis Khan finally passed away in his camp in Liupan Mountain due to overwork.

Before Genghis Khan died, he summoned his sons to his side again, asking them to unite sincerely and obey the leadership of Wo Kuotai, and said: "I designate him as my successor, and put the key of the empire in his hands." According to the feudal system, after the death of the emperor, the heir designated by him should ascend the throne immediately.However, since Mongolia's Kuriltai system (tribal council system) is still in effect, Wokuotai cannot inherit from his father's testament, but has to wait for Kuriltai's final decision.During the two years when the throne was vacant, Tuo Lei supervised the state affairs.

In the autumn of 1229, the Mongolian king and his ministers held a meeting to elect a new Khan.Some people in the court strictly abide by the old system and advocate the establishment of the youngest son Tuo Lei, opposing Genghis Khan's will.At this time, Shuchi was dead, and Chahetai fully supported Okuotai, and Tuo Lei was alone, so he had to support Okuotai.After repeated urging and persuasion by the participating nobles, Wo Kuotai finally obeyed his father's will, adopted the advice of all the brothers, and agreed to inherit the Khan throne. After Wo Kuotai came to power, he strictly abided by the decrees formulated by Genghis Khan, and all criminals who committed crimes after Genghis Khan's death to this time were pardoned, and future crimes were still punished according to law.At that time, the etiquette regulations were very simple and straightforward, and Wo Kuotai reused Yelu Chucai and others to further improve Mongolia's legal and political systems.

Yelu Chucai was a son of the clan of the Liao Kingdom. During the Western Expedition, he won the trust and attention of Genghis Khan by virtue of his superb astrology and divination skills.Yelu Chucai suggested maintaining the original agricultural and handicraft production in the Central Plains, and collecting land tax, commercial tax, and taxes on wine, vinegar, salt and iron.Wo Kuotai agreed to try it out. In 1230, Yelu Chucai set up the Shilu Tax Office, and both the chief and deputy envoys appointed Confucian scholars.He also played the division of military, civil, and financial duties, the senior officials were in charge of civil affairs, the military administration of the ten thousand households, and the tax office were in charge of money and grain, each of which was not in charge.These were strongly opposed by Mongolian dignitaries and Han princes, but the tax office still insisted on collecting taxes.In the autumn of the second year, when Wo Kuotai went to Xijing (now Datong), Chu Cai put the collected silver, coins and rice grain books in front of the sweat. There were a total of 500,000 taels of silver, 80,000 pieces of silk, and 400,000 stones of millet.Wo Kuotai was overjoyed, and on the same day he awarded the Zhongshu Provincial Seal to Chu Cai, and asked him to be in charge of political affairs north of the Yellow River.

In order to facilitate the exchanges of envoys and the transportation of materials, Wo Kuotai implemented the post system.In the era of Genghis Khan, all taxes and services were collected and collected arbitrarily, and Wo Kuotai established a fixed taxation system for pastoral areas.He also set up Wanhu and Qianhu among the Han landlords.In addition, Yelu Chucai presided over the Fu Tiao of the Han people north of the Yellow River, which enabled Mongolia to have the support of troops and financial resources from the area north of the Yellow River in the war against gold. In the second year of Shaoding (1229 A.D.), Wo Kuotai launched a war against gold according to Genghis Khan's plan.In the autumn of the third year of Shaoding, Wo Kuotai and Tuo Lei led an army across the desert and marched southward.The Mongolian army defeated Fengxiang, marched into Zhengzhou, and besieged Bianjing in March 1232. In June, Jin Aizong fled from Guide to Caizhou (now Runan, Henan).Mongolia asked the Southern Song Dynasty to jointly attack Cai, and Song sent troops to assist the Mongolian army for revenge. In 1234, the Song army broke through the South City, the Mongol army broke through the West City, and Jin Aizong hanged himself to death.The Kingdom of Jin died.

In the fourth year of Shaoding, the Mongolian army invaded Koryo, surrounded Wangjing, and the king of Koryo surrendered.So far, only Wannu's separatist forces remained in Liaodong.In February of the sixth year of Shaoding, Wo Kuotai sent Prince Guiyou, Zongwang Yongchidai (Hechi Wenzi), and King Tasi (Muhua Lisun) to lead the left-wing army to crusade against Wannu.In September, the Mongolian army captured the capital Nanjing (now Zishan, Dongcheng, Yanji City, Jilin Province), and the Mongolian army occupied Liaodong.In the next two years, 20,000 households in Nanjing and Kaiyuan were set up to guard and administer this area.

After the gold was destroyed, the Mongolian army was still resting in the north.Those in power in the Southern Song Dynasty did not insist on asking Mongolia to honor the promise of returning the Henan land to the Song Dynasty, but agreed that Chen and Cai's northwest land should belong to Mongolia.At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty still had illusions about the Mongolian army.However, from the second year of Duanping (1235 A.D.), the Mongolian army began to attack the Song Dynasty. The war of aggression against the Song Dynasty during the Wokuotai period ravaged many places in Jingxiang, Sichuan, and Lianghuai.However, because its main purpose was to plunder property, coupled with the resistance of the soldiers and civilians in various places in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongolian army also suffered a lot of losses and failed to establish rule in the captured areas. In the second year of Duanping (1235 A.D.), Wo Kuotai called a meeting of kings and decided to conquer the unconquered countries such as Qinchao and Orosi. He also sent his eldest son to join the expedition.Batu (the eldest son of Shuchi) was the leader of the kings who went to the expedition, and the actual commander of the army was Subotai. The number of troops who went to the expedition was about 150,000. In the spring of the third year of Duanping, the Mongolian kings and Subotai led their troops to set off. In the autumn, they arrived in Buli'er and joined the Batu brothers who had been there before.Subutai unified the vanguard army and took Buli'er.After the meeting of the kings, each led his own troops to conscript.The Mongolian army broke through the city of Buli Aldu, and burned the city after killing and looting. In the winter of the same year, Meng Ge led his army to the Qincha Department in the lower reaches of the Le River in Linyi.Hulu Suman, the leader of the Qincha Department, led his troops to surrender.Another Kipchak leader, Bachiman, refused to surrender and led his troops to attack the Mongolian army.In the spring of the first year of Jiaxi (1237 A.D.), Mengge received reinforcements from Subotai, defeated the Eight Chimans, wiped out the Qincha Army, and the Eight Chimans were captured and killed. In the autumn of the first year of Jiaxi, Batu and other kings convened a khuriltai meeting and decided to jointly attack Woluosi.The Mongolian army first conquered Mordovia.At the beginning of the next year, the Mongolian army divided its troops into four groups and broke through more than 10 cities including Kolomuna, Moscow, and Rostov within a month.In February, it entered the siege of Vladimir, the capital of the Principality.The Mongolian army coerced the captured Orosi people to participate in the siege. They stormed for 5 days and the city was broken. The Mongolian army looted Smolensk, Chernigov and other places, and continued to occupy the western part of the Chincha Grassland.Hutan, the Minister of Qincha, was defeated and led his remaining troops to move to Magyar (now Hungary).In the third year of Jiaxi's reign, Meng Ge and Gui You led troops into the Aso Kingdom, and it took three months to break through its capital, Mieqisi. The leader of the Aso Kingdom, Hang Husi, surrendered, and Meng Ge ordered his Ding Zhuang to join the army.In the spring of the fourth year of Jiaxi, Mengge and Guiyou continued to use troops in the north of Taiheling (Caucasus Mountain). In autumn, Wokuotai sent envoys to call Guiyou and Mengge back east. In the third year of Jiaxi's reign, Wo Kuotai sent troops into Woluosi to plunder again.In the autumn of the second year, Batu's army besieged Qiwa, the capital of Oros.The Mongolian army invaded the city of Qiwa, killing and looting.Then it invaded the country of Galichi, breaking its capital Vladimir Volun and other cities in the territory. In the spring of the first year of Chunyou (AD 1241), the Mongolian army was divided into two groups, one led by Baydar and Wulianghetai invaded Boril (Poland), and the other led by Batu brothers and Subotai invaded Maza Son (now Hungary).In March, when it entered the vicinity of its capital, Pest (now Budapest), the Magyar soldiers were defeated, and the Mongolian army captured the city of Pest.It wasn't until the news of Wo Kuotai's death that Batu led his army eastward to return the next year. In order to eliminate Zalandin and the rest of the tribe, Wo Kuotai immediately sent Chuor Mahan to lead an army of 30,000 to conquer the revived Khwarazm Kingdom after he ascended the throne.The Mongolian army marched rapidly and arrived at Ajar Byzantine in the winter of the third year of Shaoding (1230 A.D.). Zalandin escaped after hearing the news, and was finally killed by local farmers in the mountains of Diyabeqier (Eastern Turkey today). .Chuer Mahan then attacked and plundered many places in the northwest of Persia. While driving iron cavalry to shock Europe and Asia, Wo Kuotai also attached great importance to the governance of the Central Plains.Under the persuasion of Yelu Chucai, Wo Kuotai has begun to pay attention to population preservation.In the fifth year of Shaoding, when Wo Kuotai conquered Henan, he agreed to make hundreds of flags and distribute them to the surrendered people, so that they could return to their hometowns with the flags as evidence.At the beginning of the sixth year of Shaoding, Subutai entered and occupied Bianjing. Because the army and people of Bianjing had resisted, they advocated slaughtering the city according to the usual practice.After repeated persuasion by Chucai, Wo Kuotai decided to only question the Jinhuang family. In the second year of Duanping (AD 1235), Wo Kuotai issued an edict to compile the Central Plains household registration, which was presided over by Shijihu Tuhu.The courtiers advocated that the laws of Mongolia and the Western Regions should be established, and Ding should be the household, and Ding should be assigned a tax.Wo Kuotai accepted Yelu Chucai's suggestion, and according to the tradition of the Central Plains, households were regarded as households, and taxes were determined according to households.He also retained the county system in the Central Plains.On the basis of Kuohu, Wo Kuotai asked Yelu Chucai to preside over the formulation of the tax and service system in the Central Plains, with light corvee and low tax.This lighter tax quota is beneficial to the recuperation of the severely damaged Central Plains. When Bianjing was attacked in 1232, Yelu Chucai sent people into the city to obtain Kong Yuancuo, the 51st grandson of Confucius, who was named Yansheng Gong by Wo Kuotai.At the same time, Wo Kuotai adopted Yelu Chucai's idea, set up Chinese studies, and took the examination of Confucian scholars. He got 4030 people, one quarter of whom had already been reduced to slaves, and they got rid of their enslaved status only after the pilot test. In addition to continuing to set up judges in important places such as Yanjing, Wo Kuotai also dispatched Daluhuachi (town guards) to Lufu prefectures and counties, and ordered Tan Machi and other generals to divide Zhending (now Zhending) Hebei Zhengding), Daming (now Hebei Daming), Dongping, Yidu-Jinan, Pingyang (now Shanxi Linfen)-Taiyuan.Through the above measures, Mongolia's rule over the Central Plains was greatly strengthened. From the second year of Duanping, Wo Kuotai began to build palaces.In the second year, the Wan'an Palace built in Harahelin (today's Erdenizhaonan) was completed.It is a palace in traditional Chinese style, and the throne of the Great Khan faces south in the north of the main hall.In the first year of Jiaxi (1237 A.D.), Wo Kuotai ordered Islamic craftsmen to build the Jiajian Tea Cold Hall in the spring hunting ground more than 70 miles north of Harbin and Lincheng.In the second year of Jiaxi, the Tusuhu Yingjia Hall was built in the south of the city.Since then, Harahelin City, which is located on the east bank of the Harahelin River in the upper reaches of the Orkhan River, has become the capital of the Mongolian Kingdom and an international city at that time. Wo Kuotai is kind and kind, and likes to broadcast favors. His court has almost become the sanctuary and refuge of the whole world.In rewarding property, he surpassed his predecessors.Because of the generosity of his nature, he often gave away things from all parts of the empire, without being registered by the accountants and inspectors.Once, three criminals were brought before him, and he had already ordered to execute them. Seeing his mother crying, he pardoned all three criminals. But Wo Kuotai still has a cruel and cruel side in his character.In June of the first year of Jiaxi (1237 A.D.), there were rumors in the Wuyira tribe that there was an edict to match the girls of the tribe.People are busy marrying their daughters within the clan, and some are sent directly to the man's family.After hearing the news, Wo Kuotai was furious, and issued an edict to gather all the girls over 7 years old, and recovered them from her husband's house with others.Then they gathered 4,000 girls in one place and ordered the soldiers to torture them in public, and forced their fathers, brothers and relatives to watch beside them, so that they could not complain or cry. In the Mongolian court struggle, Wo Kuotai was even more cruel and cruel.The fourth brother Tuo Lei has always been a hidden danger for Wo Kuotai to stabilize his position.Tuo Lei holds 80% of the Mongolian army and has strong military strength. In the battle of attacking gold, Tuo Lei showed his outstanding military talent, which aroused Wo Kuotai's jealousy, and finally used tricks to defeat him. He was poisoned. Wo Kuotai believed: "Half of the world is for pleasure, and half is for fame." After the gold was destroyed, he appointed the generals in the court to lead the army to conquer, and he himself no longer suffered from the conquest.He was addicted to alcohol, was in love with beauty, and indulged in shooting and hunting.In his later years, he was even more addicted to wine and sex, and every drink would last all night.Yelu Chucai's repeated remonstrances were ineffective, and the government was almost abandoned. In November of the second year of Chunyou (1242 A.D.), Wo Kuotai went hunting again. After riding and shooting for 5 days, he returned to Etegu Hulan Mountain, where he drank fine wine in his tent, and the booze didn't stop until late at night.The next day, he was found to have had a stroke and was unable to speak, and soon died in the hall.At the age of 56, he reigned for 13 years.Bury the chariot valley.Later, he was posthumously named "Emperor of English", and the temple name was "Taizong".